Preserving American Values

While our culture of consumerism has been a boon to corporate America, it has been bad for our citizens, bad for our economy, and bad for our nation.

Psychologically, mass marketing images have resulted in a nation of individuals who are constantly dissatisfied with their lives … whether it’s how they look, the job they have, the amount of money they make, the home they live in, etc. There is not a single aspect of our lives that escapes this need of ours to project success or power/popularity, mostly through the acquisition of material things. And we always want more; it’s never enough.

You won’t find evidence of this in polls because our culture places a premium on having fun, being happy. Since people feel that they’re supposed to be having fun and be happy, that that state is valued by our culture, people put on that façade … not knowingly but in an act of self-deception.  And so while polls show that more people are satisfied now with their lives, a large majority are in fact either very or somewhat dissatisfied with their lives, as shown by research on depression. Confirmation of this is shown by studies that measure national and individual wellbeing; the United States typically finds itself towards the back of the pack of developed countries. Not in front as we like to believe.

While I know of no studies that document what I am about to posit, I believe that the large increase in the extent of depression in this country, especially among youth and young adults, stems not from more awareness of life’s problems, as has often been stated, but from this constant dissatisfaction that people feel about themselves, together with the alienating impact of technology. Indeed, it is not uncommon when people are feeling down to get a “fix” by going out and buying something.

Our economy has also become addicted to consumerism. 70% of our GDP is derived from consumer spending. But consumerism is a very unproductive use of the nation’s wealth. It does not move our country forward. And since much of what we consume is no longer produced here but overseas, it doesn’t even help employment like it used to—it in fact increases the financial problems of the American worker; it just increases the profit of American global corporations.

Meanwhile, the United States is falling behind other countries on various measures and entering a dangerous period because we cannot afford to do what needs to be done to keep this country strong … and I don’t mean military spending. I mean spending on infrastructure … both maintenance and new. I mean spending on education. I mean spending on cutting edge research and development, investment in new industries that will drive our economy in the future.

In order to find the money to invest in our country’s wellbeing, we must switch our economy from one that is primarily based on consumerism, to one that is based primarily on building our country. This involves changing the components of our GDP but not lessening it or our growth. On the contrary, because it mostly would involve projects that must by their very nature be accomplished in the geographic United States, it means a greater bang for the buck when it comes to job creation.; jobs for American workers in industry and construction would see a major increase.

To get from the consumer economy to the nation-building economy, we will need to wean ourselves from the need to constantly buy things to be happy. And instead of using discretionary income for self-gratification, we will need to learn to be comfortable with that money going to the government in the form of taxes to be used for projects that will benefit the nation, and thus ultimately ourselves.  This will be a difficult, complicated process and require a  commitment over many years.

Many will howl at this suggestion, but we must remember that the United States has by far the lowest tax rate of any developed country. Yet, and this bears repeating, the people of these other countries nevertheless not only prosper but have a higher level of wellbeing … whether it’s their health, education, or other measures … than we do.

Making such a change in our culture will take principled leadership and preferably a united political front. This must be approached like a war used to be … all hands on deck and united. And everyone must be prepared to sacrifice. At this point in our history, that concept … a united political front … as well as group sacrifice seem impossible to imagine. And yet we must strive toward that end if America is to regain its global strength and provide its citizens with a secure and high standard of living and well-being.